Division 5.6

[Independence of the buyer(s)] The buyer(s) of OpCo must be independent of HSH and the public sector. That will be the case if neither HSH nor the public sector is able to exercise control within the meaning of Article 3 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004^f1 over any of the buyers at the time of sale. The term ‘public sector’ includes the Federal State, all Länder and municipalities and their public institutions as well as undertakings controlled by them. A sale to one or more Landesbank(en) is possible. Public savings banks (öffentliche Sparkassen) may take part — jointly with a minority shareholding — in a purchase through another buyer that is independent of HSH and the public sector (excluding Landesbanken).